2016/08/04 by Tobin Siebers · 1 voice
Social Sciences · Medicine · #Disability Rights and Representation #Legal and cultural studies analysis #Literature Analysis and Criticism
paper · doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199663408.013.25
openalex publication_date 2016/08/04 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/05/21
The standard locus of disability in Shakespeare has been Richard III, spanning from Freud’s seminal interpretation of Richard as a narcissist to readings in the emerging field of disability studies. Richard III represents the possibility for disability scholars to argue for the role that disability plays as a marker of villainy, one that obscures the humanity of disabled people, and they have made this case with precision and energy. It is crucial, however, to ask the price that disability scholars have paid by fitting Richard III so securely to their emerging discipline. If a certain disability studies chooses Richard III as its standard bearer, what would another disability studies look like that refuses him, and which Shakespearean character would be the standard bearer of this differently disabled disability studies?